Professionalism is essential to maintaining a good reputation and advancing in your career. You need to showcase your best self every time you’re at work if you want people to like you, so here are 20 actions that scream unprofessionalism at work that you should avoid doing.
Showing Up Late
We’ve all shown up late to work once or twice; it happens. However, make it a habit, and you’ll quickly get a reputation for being unprofessional. Being consistently late showcases poor time management skills, and it might also irritate coworkers who have to pick up your slack.
Constantly Calling in Sick
You should stay at home if you’re genuinely sick to avoid infecting others, but constantly calling in sick will make people question if you’re being truthful. Missing too many will also lead to you falling behind on your work, and your team will think you’re unreliable. You could even be fired!
Being Messy
Some people claim to work better in a messy workspace, but your colleagues will beg to differ. Research by the University of Michigan found that lacking cleanliness, order, and organization at work can impact how people professionally engage with you. To give the best professional impression, keep your workspace tidy.
Scrolling on Your Phone
Checking the odd message is fine, but people who sit and scroll on their phones during work hours come across as immature and lazy. Save checking social media or watching videos for your allotted break and concentrate when you’re on the job. Being unable to detach from your phone is highly unprofessional.
Having Poor Hygiene
Poor hygiene is a tricky topic for employers to discuss with their employees because it makes everybody uncomfortable. If you have bad body odor, don’t wash your hands, or don’t clean your teeth well enough, people will complain about you. Cleanliness is a massive part of professionalism, so don’t slack on it.
Dressing Unprofessionally
Most workplaces have an assigned dress code. If yours is something vague like casual dress, you should still wear clean, ironed, and well-maintained clothes. Avoid loungewear, polish your shoes, and don’t wear anything overly revealing. You can still dress casually without looking unprofessional.
Ignoring Messages
Some people advocate ignoring messages from colleagues, but this is wildly unprofessional. It’s one thing if you’re being bombarded with messages when you’re not at work, but it’s another to refuse to respond to work-related emails or meeting requests. You don’t want to cast doubt on your professional relationship.
Criticizing Your Boss
If you’re having issues with your boss, the most unprofessional thing you can do is speak badly about them. Investopedia warns that criticizing your boss will alienate them and potentially motivate them to make your work life more difficult. Instead, stay professional by talking to HR about the issues.
Having a Negative Attitude
We all have bad days at work, but it’s best to save your frustrations and pessimism for when you get home. Constantly complaining at work can make you seem combative, and coworkers might think you’re not a team player. Your reputation is at risk if you’re known for having an unprofessional, negative attitude.
Gossiping About Colleagues
Gossiping in the workplace might seem like harmless fun, but it can backfire. Talking about colleagues behind their backs is unprofessional and undermines your credibility at work. People won’t trust you; worse, they’ll actively dislike you, making it difficult to nurture professional relationships.
Disrupting Others
Having some banter with the rest of your team is great, but don’t become known for being disruptive. Preventing others from working comfortably and efficiently won’t go over well with them or your boss. Instead of being seen as the ‘fun one,’ you’ll be known for your unprofessionalism.
Being Arrogant
Nobody likes arrogant people, so it’s best to remain humble at work. Bragging about your achievements won’t endear you to coworkers, and it’s actually a sign of low self-esteem. Be proud of yourself, but don’t speak arrogantly or devalue other people’s achievements.
Oversharing Personal Things
It’s an old-fashioned concept that you need to conceal everything about your personal life at work, but be wary of oversharing. Fox Business warns that oversharing at work can undermine professionalism and make others uncomfortable. You can be friends with colleagues but maintain professional boundaries at work.
Interrupting People
People who continuously interrupt others seemingly without realizing it are infuriating and create conflict in the workplace. It’s professional to actively listen to others and encourage discussions, not dominate them. Let others contribute their thoughts and politely counter with your own ideas if you disagree, but only when they’re finished talking.
Procrastinating on Work
Constantly procrastinating on your workload will never benefit your professional reputation. When procrastination becomes a habit, it isn’t easy to break. Missing deadlines, wasting time, and demonstrating low productivity will lead you to underperform and potentially face discipline from your manager.
Using Foul Language
Cursing might be easily dismissed in a social setting, but it’s highly unprofessional at work. People will get offended and might complain about or avoid speaking to you. Using loud profanity can also intimidate others, even if they don’t say anything, so it’s professional to control what you say at work.
Overstepping Boundaries
Every workplace has both spoken and unspoken boundaries to ensure everybody is comfortable and can work peacefully. Overstepping boundaries by invading people’s space, saying inappropriate things, or undermining their work are all unprofessional actions that could have you called into HR. Don’t be that guy.
Refusing to Take Responsibility
In your career, you’ll inevitably face both success and failure, and it’s professional to take responsibility for both. Trying to shift blame elsewhere won’t make you look better if you’ve submitted a bad piece of work, lost a client, or offended a coworker. You’ll appear defensive and unwilling to learn from failure.
Skipping Every Social Event
You don’t need to attend every social event your workplace holds, but it’s a bad look if you’ve never been to any. Social events help coworkers socialize and get to know each other outside of the workplace, so they’re essential for team bonding. Skipping them all is unprofessional because you won’t foster those connections.
Not Being a Team Player
Finally, being professional in the workplace means working well in a team. You’ll be seen as a bad sport if you isolate yourself or refuse to help others. Forbes recommends demonstrating your reliability, willingness to learn, and communication skills to become a better team player, which will elevate your professional reputation.
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